Sunday, June 26, 2011

The song "Herdeiro da Pampa Pobre", which means Heir of the Poor Pampa, was originally composed by Gaúcho da Fronteira, a naturalized Brazilian musician and one of the most popular/folk music of this country, with Vainê Darde. It was covered by the rock band Herdeiros do Hawaii and released in the 1991 album Várias Variáveis, as the image below testifies.

Update - 5/12

I'm not used to post cover songs, the only ones that matter are the original compositions released in studio albums and so and so, but I was fooled by one of my friends! He told me it was from Engenheiros and I hadn't checked it until now. And the Gaúcho's has not whistlings. But because this song is here from a reasonable period, I will not erase the post. Instead, I will post both versions, okay?

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Today marks two years since the death of Michael Jackson. Throughout my research, I could only find one song with whistlings. It is in the last studio album released while MJ was alive, his tenth album called Invincible.

"This music video is a not-for-profit, low-budget independent production. The Magic of Michael Jackson was the first fan club to produce a tribute cover video of The King of Pop". Copy-and-paste from Youtube's description. The fake Santana is very funny!

P.S.: A curiosity: A BBC article states that policemen recorded Michael Jackson singing and whistling after his arrest back in 2003 when he faced the charge of child molestation. Does anyone know if this recording is public now? It would be a great thing to have Michael's whistling posted in the blog.

He gives another smile, tries to understand her sideTo show that he caresShe can't stay in the roomShe's consumed with everything that's been goin' onShe says

Whatever happens, don't let go of my handEverything will be alright, he assures herBut she doesn't hear a word that he says

Preoccupied, she's afraidAfraid that what they're doing is not rightHe doesn't know what to say, so he praysWhatever, whatever, whatever

He's working day and night, thinks he'll make her happyForgetting all the dreams that he hadHe doesn't realize it's not the end of the worldIt doesn't have to be that badShe tries to explain, "It's you that makes me happy,"Whatever, whatever, whatever

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Clouds Like Metallics was fine; in Zaireeka they were completely crazy and experimental as we can read in this excerpt from Wikipedia:

"The departure of Jones and a general dissatisfaction with standard 'rock' music led to the three remaining members of the group to redefine the direction of the band with the experimental Zaireeka (1997), a four-CD album which is intended to be heard by playing all four CDs in four separate CD players simultaneously. The music incorporated both traditional musical elements and 'found' sounds (as in musique concrète), often heavily manipulated with recording studio electronics."

With Soft Bulletin (1999) and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002), The Flaming Lips finally reached the mainstream. The first "was lauded by critics and fans alike and topped numerous 'Best of 1999' lists."¹Yoshimi goes further:

"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots appeared in the best albums of the decade lists of many music magazines, such as Rolling Stone (#27) and Uncut (#11). Fortune magazine called the album 'a lush and haunting electronic symphony.' Calling the album 'as strange as it is wonderful,' Billboard magazine explained, 'Beneath the sunny, computer-generated atmospherics and the campy veneer of talk about gladiator-style clashes between man and machines with emotions, Yoshimi is actually a somber rumination on love and survival in an unfathomable world.' Giving the album four-out-of-five stars, Rolling Stone called the production 'ambitious'. Uncut declared 'even by their standards, Yoshimi is astonishing' before declaring it the greatest album released in the magazine's lifetime."

Thereafter, the recognition and also the music style of Flaming Lips became more and more consistent. The band are now considered one of the most inventive band of all time!²³

Their wasn't any snow on Christmas Eve and I knew what I should do, I thought I'd free the animals all locked up at the zooI opened up the fence where the peacocks were, the lamas were unleashed The snakes and seals could all get out, but they refused to leave....

All of the animals agreed they're not happy at the zoosBut they preferred to save themselves, they seemed to think they could...

The elephants, orangutans, all the birds and kangaroos All said thanks but no thanks man, but to be concerned is good...

It started to snow on Christmas Eve in the middle of the nightWalkin' through the state park zoo and everything is white...

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles — such as "Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles", "Free Radicals (A Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading with a Suicide Bomber)" and "Yeah, I Know It's a Drag... But Wastin' Pigs Is Still Radical". They are also acclaimed for their elaborate live shows, which feature costumes, balloons, puppets, video projections, complex stage light configurations, giant hands, large amounts of confetti, and frontman Wayne Coyne's signature man-sized plastic bubble, in which he traverses the audience. In 2002, Q magazine named The Flaming Lips one of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die".

That's a description of FL from themselves. It continues with "after signing to Warner Brothers, they scored a hit in 1993 with 'She Don't Use Jelly'. Although it has been their only hit single in the U.S., the band has maintained critical respect and (etc.)"

The album Transmissions from the Satellite Heart is known for having a more pop sound, instead of the lo-fi style we hear from the earlier albums. This is so true that LP's first hit is the above mentioned She Don't Use Jelly. Because of this, they started to become notorious, to make tours and open for great bands, like Red Hot Chili Peppers. This "pop era" (with quotation mark because the evolution of Flaming Lips' sound cannot be marked in periods of styles) lasted until 1995, when all the members of the band had health, drugs or familiar issues.

In this album we also find our second whistling song: Chewin' the Apple in Your Eye. It's a ballad with much of Flaming Lips lo-fi style, despite its little change. As we can see in the video below, whistlings are made by Wayne.

Hey what were ya thinkinWhen they were startin the showYeah, i was thereBut i didn't care at allI was tryin to find youWhen you got lost in the crowdCus i'm drunk all the timeI like your helium voice

There was a guy in the seat next to mineWatchin the girls when the cops made us stand in line

Yea, so if its sadWell you still gotta live till ya dieMan, everyone's chewin the apple you got in your eye

It like at the circusWhen you get lost in the crowdYour happy but nervousDefinite sign that you lost it

There was a guy in the seat next to mineWatchin the girls when the cops made us stand in line

Monday, June 20, 2011

Hello! Today I decided to do this special week about this special band. To introduce The Flaming Lips to people who doesn't know it yet I will begin at the beginning:

The band was formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City when Wayne Coyne, the band's composer/vocalist/guitarist, robbed the instruments from a church! (Which church? Does anyone know?) Three years later Wayne, his brother Mark and the bass player Michael Ivins (that remains in FL until nowadays) did their first show at the Blue Note Lounge.¹

The Flaming Lips' "indie era" (which means before they'd signed with Warner Bros Records) gave birth to four albums, the latest being released in 1990 called "In a Priest Driven Ambulance". According to Wikipedia, "it is a concept album primarily focused on frontman Wayne Coyne's fascination with religion. It is generally considered among critics to be one of the best early period Flaming Lips albums."

The Flaming Lips' first whistling song appears in this album. Well, I don't know, maybe I'm getting old and gag, but I couldn't find anything about the song. (=

Ten men stand in lineAt the gates of the cemetery on Tuesday morningThey're not open todayAnd ten moms stand in lineAt maternity wardThey're not bringin' no babies out to playAnytime today

What's a nice girl like you doin'Walkin' around this part of town?See you sometime tomorrow

And ten men stand in lineWaitin' for some personality to be put out on the cornerToday ain't garbage dayAin't no grabage taken today

Thursday, June 16, 2011

A few days ago I discovered the name of the pop band that sings in this Heineken commercial:

At first glance, I thought the cute blond singer was Avril Lavigne but the voice wasn't from Avril. The commercial stopped on TV and I forgot it. Until these days, when I found out the blond and the band's name. With you, the marvelous lead singer Mette Lindberg from The Asteroids Galaxy Tour!

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour are a Danish duo formed by Mette and the producer Lars Iversen. When at live, the band increases to six members (the horns, drums and so).

The song "Around the Bend" was the second single and, some say, it is the AGT most famous track. The whistling here is very dificult to identify, because it seems like a sound effect — if the video music didn't show Mette whistling (ela faz biquinho!) at 1:37 this song would never be posted here! (=

Ooo ooo
Yeah!

Walk around
Waste another mile now
Mark around
Waste another mile now

You'll feel the need
There's no way to return
You'll feel the need
Oh yeah, it burns

What a ride
Hot love on a platter

Yeah! Yeah!

Give me that thing
Give it my friend
Give me good good times around the bend
I'll stay forever!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Bauhaus were an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The band was originally "Bauhaus 1919" before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation. With their dark and gloomy sound and image, Bauhaus are generally considered the first gothic rock group.¹

Wait, wait... First gothic rock group! Terrific, huh? The song that testifies the (as they say in their website) "unintentional birth of a genre" is the 1979 first single and 9 minutes track "Bela Lugosi's Dead" (video on YouTube, if you mind.)

So years and years passed, they split up and join again, went on hiatus and finally came back to released Bauhaus final album in 2008. The album named "Go Away White" has one song that features whistling. Pitchfork reviews the album and says the following words about the track: "'Black Stone' melds dark and dancey rhythms and Murphy's novel multi-personality melodramatics with hand claps, whistling, and stilted piano."

My heart
Is a black stone
A streaking mirror
Of unseen creatures
He had a milkness
From the universe
18 thousand feet
A black stone heart

My heart
Is a black stone
A moon glab night
Come with this darkness
I come
With this darkness
And go away white
Go away white

When my black is back
And sea out of sight
I go there
With my darkness
And go away white
And my black is back
And my sea out of sight
I go there
Wwith my darkness
And go away white
Go away white
Go away white
Go away white

Monday, June 13, 2011

Alexander Ebert is the guy from the indie band Edward Shape & the Magnetic Zeros, the one that has the hit "Home", another whistling song. Besides this band, he also sings in the eletrorock band Ima Robot. Very well.

I had already write about him in the blog, but I'll speak some more things about him. Ebert is from LA and was born in 1978. While his start in Magnetic Zeros was the result of a break down with his ex-girlfriend, his solo career began without any drama:

no drama, sir!

According to Ebert's recording label, Vagrant.com, "during breaks from touring with the Zeroes over the past year, Alex would hole up in his Los Angeles bedroom, working with a bare minimum of recording gear beyond a microphone and simple M-Audio direct box. He had his guitar, a Lowery organ he picked up at a St. Vincent’s thrift store in Los Angeles for seventy bucks, a clarinet he used for the bridge on 'Truth' and a violin he’d found somewhere in Tucson on tour."

The album, called 'Alexander', was released in 2011 and its first single is our whistling song of the day: Truth. According to the weblog Awmusic.ca, "Truth [is] a hip-hopish tune [that] does have an intro that includes whistling but to say it resembles an Andrew Bird song would be like saying it resembles an Eminem tune because it has a rap meter. In this song Ebert takes a look at the darkness within himself and concludes that the only real way to deal with it is to let it out into the light and allow love to enter in it’s place. And if this album has a theme it is that love is what we should all be striving for, love of each other, ourselves and love of something greater than us."

The truth is that I never shook my shadow
Every day it's trying to trick me into doing battle
Calling out 'faker' only get me rattled
Wanna pull me back behind the fence with the cattle
Building your lenses
Digging your trenches
Put me on the front line
Leave me with a dumb mind
With no defenses
But your defense is
If you can't stand to feel the pain then you are senseless

Since this,
I've grown up some
Different kinda figther
And when the darkness come, let it inside you
Your darkness is shining
My darkness is shining
Have faith in myself
Truth.

I've seen a million numbered doors on the horizon
Now which is the future you choosen before you gone dying
I'll tell you about a secret I've been undermining
Every little lie in this world comes from dividing
Say you're my lover
say you're my homie
Tilt my chin back, slit my troath
Take a bath in my blood, get to know me
All out of my secrets
All my enemies are turning into my teachers

Because
Light's blinding
No way dividing
What's yours or mine when everything's shining
Your darkness is shining
My darkness is shining
Have faith in ourselves
Truth.

(Yeah)

Yes I'm only loving, only trying to only love
And yes, that's what I'm trying to is only loving

Yes I'm only loving, trying to only love
I swear to god I'm only trying to be loving

Yes I'm only lonely loving
And yes I'm only feeling only loving, only loving
Ya say it ain't loving, loving but my loving

I wanna only love til I'm only loving
I swear to god I'm only loving.
Trying to be loving, loving, loving, loving, loving, loving, love

Friday, June 10, 2011

Loneome Vice Magic Harvest was composed by a French unknown musician called Alexandre Geindre.

For what I can figure, Geindre has made songs for advertising and fashion shows. Discogs shows us that Geindre has two songs in two compilations of songs played in Fashion Weeks's shows. One of these songs is Lonesome Vice...

The song received s little attention because of a very cute commercial with dogs by Geico Company, which you can watch below.

16 year-old Vinícius Gageiro Marques lived in the Southwestern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre. He was a bright inquisitive young man, a polyglot adolescent who spoke French (he lived with his family in Paris from 3 until 7 years old), and wrote and spoke English without ever taking classes (he learned by watching TV). He began reading Kafka at 12, and at 13 dedicated himself to recording daily life using a photo camera. Vinicius also had an impressive musical aptitude. He demonstrated a knowledge and a critical sense in his analysis of pop music, always written in English and available on various websites. And he recorded hundreds of songs, playing guitars, bass, drums and sound effects in one of the rooms in his house he transformed into a studio.

But his focus had a dark side. "He was serious, maybe too serious," remembers his mother Ana Maria. "Very early on, I understood that his sensitivity to the world was also his weakness."

On the afternoon of July 26th of 2006, 36 days before turning 17, Vinicius locked himself inside the bathroom of his apartment, and took his own life via carbon monoxide intoxication. An avid Internet user with the screen-name Yoñlu, Vinicius stayed on-line until the very last moments, and members of the suicide forum he frequented accompanied his every last step. Before locking himself in the bathroom, Vinicius wrote a letter freeing his family members from any guilt, explaining that his suicide could not have been stopped or imagined. He asked that his wishes be respected because his life was unbearable, he indicated the web address for his blog, thanked his parents for their support and recommended they listen to his music whenever they were sad, exactly as he would do. Even though he didn't suggest they listen to the music he composed, he left them a CD with some of his songs.

On Vinicius'computer (which was being searched by Police investigators), his father discovered some of the precious sounds he had stored away — the majority were his own songs. The music came with enthusiastic commentary made by Internet fans from around the world. Yoñlu, the Brazilian from Gay Harbour (that's how he would refer to Porto Alegre), almost without any real friends in real life, was a popular virtual artist with fans from England, Scotland, Belgium, Canada and North Africa.

His recordings revealed just a fraction of his potential, his talent for experimentalism, and a capacity to create delicate melancholy melodies, something between Badly Drawn Boy, Radiohead, Tortoise and Nick Drake.

Yonlu's sound was enriched by his passion for bossa nova, his attention to the ruptures in Tropicalia (he considered Gilberto Gil the genius of the movement) and the influences of gaucho artists such as Vitor Ramil, his favorite, whose song "Estrela" he covers here.

Between a poetic lyricism and general nonsense, the lyrics, written in English, help uncover who Viñicius really was. Topics like depression, inadequacy and suicide are scattered among the tracks selected for the disc. "Katie Don't Be Depressed," a musical pearl with steamy guitars and popular lyrics, is somber: "Katie don't get depressed/it's serious, I want to say, what the hell is that? / a thought across your mind/ and I see you twist and scream/ even though you have a hand to hold onto/ even though you were cast aside."

Yoñlu is a disc that should have been a post card, but transformed itself into a testament. It's the celebration of a life with the talent for a banquet that stopped at the appetizer. It's a showcase of sound and poetry of the kisses that Vinicius never gave, the dreams he never realized, the anguishes he couldn't get over, his passion for art and especially for music, like he expressed in the letter he wrote to his parents: "I believe that the right cadence and harmony at the right moments can awaken any sentiment, including happiness in the most somber moments."

StrangeGlue's review of the posthumous album from 2009 "A Society in Which No Tear Is Shed Is Inconceivably Mediocre" gives us a complete idea of the song of today:

On Boy And The Tiger, you witness the frantic thought-patterns and decisions that he seems intent to convey and its genuinely one of the most convoluted pieces of music we've ever heard. It starts heavily grounded within folk territory with Vinícius's melancholic vocals and the occasional elephant noise. Within just a minute, the song fizzles out into a warped, eery 'Silent Night' jingle but before eyebrows can even be raised, Vinícius starts up again, this time in an absolutely insane vocal style over a fuzzier folk rhythm. It begins to speed up, quicker and quicker before sounding like a fairground ride and then, once again, the entire song shifts into a simple, almost a cappella hip-hop rhythm. It's comical and you're meant to laugh for a moment but our time here is only brief. Mumbles send shivers down the spine as once again, a new rhythm pushes it's way to the front. A gentle, fragile acoustic guitar is quickly smothered with an abrasive one note electric chord and deep vocals are juxtaposed against a falsetto tone. Soon enough, percussion's are introduced, creating just one more altered rhythm in a piece of art that defies everything music is.

Época Magazine, an important media in the country, stated in an article about Vinícius the history of the whistling in the song The Boy and the Tiger:

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Days ago I discovered the pop-cabaret trio Marlango because of its song with whistling. Some inspiration from its musical style is part from Tom Waits and the name's band was because of him too. So I downloaded some Waits albums. If I liked Marlango I would like Tom Waits as well. And I did!

Tom Waits style is hard to define. He can be put on the art rock huge label but we can heard a lot of blues and jazz in his songs. Anyways, what cativates us is his harsh voice and the deep and strange lyrics of his songs. He started his musical career in the early 70s, releasing his debut album in 73. He inspired himself in artists like Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong, Howlin' Wolf, Hoagy Carmichael, Raymond Chandler, and Stephen Foster.¹ Because of his extense and unique discography he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

The whistling song of today has all that I mentioned above about Waits: odd lyrics, a jazzy melancholic guitar, a hoarse almost-speaking way to sing. I found in the website Tom Waits Library some explanation about parts of the song that may be unintelligible. Take a look! :)

Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me

Come closer don't be shy
Stand beneath a rainy sky
The moon is over the rise
Think of me as a train goes by

Clear the thistles and brambles
Whistle 'Didn't He Ramble'
Now there's a bubble of me
And it's floating in thee

Stand in the shade of me
Things are now made of me
The weather vane will say...
It smells like rain today

God took the stars and he tossed 'em
Can't tell the birds from the blossoms
You'll never be free of me
He'll make a tree from me

Don't say good bye to me
Describe the sky to me
And if the sky falls, mark my words
We'll catch mocking birds

Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Radical Face is the Ben Cooper's musical project/alter ego. According to Wikipedia, "He named himself Radical Face because he 'thought it was kinda funny'". His music style is defined as indie pop / indietronica.¹

Radical Face has only one studio album called "Ghost". It was released in March, 2007 on Morr Music. "'Ghost' is a concept record. I know that's a dirty word to a lot of people, but I like concept records. It was written with the idea of houses having memories, and people leaving ghosts behind whenever they move from one place to the next. An idea that whatever we do in our homes is collected in the walls and might come out and haunt whoever moves in next. So the songs are all short stories, tied together with a theme."²

I have synesthesia, so I see colours when I hear certain pitches, but more clearer when I conceptualize a key signature. Like Glory, I see gold, and I figured out the pitches in my head with what notes (on a piano) give me gold, predicted it was based in C# Major because that key gives me gold too, and it turned out I was right (at least I think so haha).

I was born when they took my name
When the world turned wicked, when I joined their game
But I turned upon them
Like you always knew I'd do

I sat and dreamed at the foot of your bed
Split my skull and reached inside my head
Pulled out the pictures and wished that I'd forget
But you stitched me up then
Wiped the blood from off my chin

Now I sit on rooftop's edge
Muddy street beneath my swollen head
Trying to forget you
But we've never met

And the sky is ripped from the flying clouds
The chimneys' mouths spewing smoke around
And I can't stop coughing
My lungs just won't calm down
But still I keep grinning
As the blood from my face stains the ground

A bird, caught in the wires
Pleading for help I can't provide, I'm not that big
I hope for the best but nothing changes, I'm sorry

But I was blessed with bad eyes
There's a lot that I missed but I don't mind, I'm not that old
I'll find out what broke me soon enough

Monday, June 6, 2011

Searching for more songs I discover a top10 list of Indie Tunes that feature whistling. There are in this list the obvious like Peter, Bjorn and John (here), Edward Shape (here) and The Drums (here), but there are novelty too. Glory by Radical Face (or Radical Face by Glory, I don't know!), which I will post in the next day, and Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft! by The Wedding Present.

So who are The Wedding Present? They are from Leeds, England and way back in 80s they would start, with bands like Primal Scream, Mighty Mighty, The Soup Dragons, etc. a new genre in UK mainly inspired by the Smiths, REM, Happy Mondays, My Bloody Valentine: the indie rock.¹² Now they by their own words:

The Wedding Present rose from the ashes of The Lost Pandas, a band formed in Leeds in the early 1980s by David Gedge [vocals, guitar] and Jaz Rigby [drums]. Keith Gregory [bass] and, later, Michael Duane [guitar] completed the line-up. The Lost Pandas became The Wedding Present when Rigby and Duane moved to New York and were replaced by Peter Solowka [guitar] and Shaun Charman [drums, backing vocals]. This line-up lasted until after the first album, George Best.

After George Best a lot of replacement happened. But we are going to stay in George Best. To start with, let's explain that George Best was a football player. In his native land, people used to say the maxim: "Maradona good; Pelé better; George Best." What heresy! Everyone knows Pelé is undefeatable!*

Best and Pelé

* In spite of Pelé himself has said that Best was the greatest footballer in the world!

Anyways, Best stamps the cover of TWP's 1987 debut album. According to All Music, "George Best is easily the best possible introduction to the Wedding Present's work; it's also a fine introduction to the entire C-86 scene that had such an impact on British rock." All Music also made a perfect review of this whistling song and I had to post it here:

In the Wedding Present's early days, David Gedge was a master of presenting real-world emotional conflicts in a way that most pop-song lyricists never think of. Instead of the usual boy/girl clichés, Gedge focuses on small moments of anger, pettiness or confusion, set to his indie-jangle tunes in an appealingly conversational way. The opening track of the Wedding Present's debut album, 1987's George Best, is a perfect example: there have been plenty of pop songs about cheating girlfriends over the decades, but few are as needling as "Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft." Gedge is unafraid to come across as a petty jerk here, and as the verses skirt around the real topic at hand (at one point, he asks to borrow a book, and at another, he inquires about the quality of the film his girl and her new friend were spotted at), the chorus gets right to the point, both admonishing her to stop trying to explain herself and passive-aggressively sulking with the key line "Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream." It's a remarkably unpleasant set of lyrics, made more so by the fact that most listeners have probably behaved this badly to a significant other at some point. Musically, the song is less manic than most of the Wedding Present's early tracks, an uncharacteristically midtempo stroll that features a particularly great staccato lead guitar riff from Peter Solowka.

Oh why do you catch my eye, then turn away?
I thought we said all the things we had to say
Shaun said he saw you holding hands with your new friend
How does it feel to know you've just won again?

Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream

Can I keep that book of yours and maybe this one too?
Oh sure, I'll bring them round tomorrow if that will do
Was it really full? They must have queued there since half past three
Oh I didn't go, was it a good film? Well that's just me!

Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream

Guess who I saw by your old house just the other day
That kid we used to think was mad, but now he looks okay
I think someone's here, look out the window, I can't make out who
Oh I'd love to stay but I've really got so many things to do

Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream

Sunday, June 5, 2011

An anonymous follower of this blog commented that there's another Chad's whistling song. This time it is from his third album called Soft Airplane from 2008.

Chad's record label SubPop gives us its analyse of the album: "recorded primarily on an old tape machine and a JVC ghetto blaster in Chad’s Calgary basement, Soft Airplane retains the handmade charm and singular character of his previous records, while incorporating new layers of sophistication and weight."

--

I'm having a lot of problems to upload songs to 4shared, so you can listen to and download "Phantom Anthills" clicking below.

There isn't music video, but I found on YouTube a stop motion short-film that made use of this song. The short was done by the user Alligator Lions. Enjoy it!

--

This tiny body is see-through
I caught it swimming inside of you
It might be trying to haunt you
It's bending down and it's lighter than air

Oh
But no one knows
Oh
But no one knows

It goes to sleep right beside you
Cute there as it swims through your hair
Could it be dreaming about you?
Could it be dreaming about you?

Friday, June 3, 2011

Chad VanGaalen is a Canadian singer/songwriter from Calgary, Alberta. He is 34 years old.¹ He is also animator and producer.²

VanGaalen has released four full studio albums, the latest this year. To be exact, the latest album, called "Diaper Island", was released May 17.³Pitchfork critics said the "its [his] cohesive sound and restraint [and] an economy in his instrumentation and recording" that makes this album a success. VanGaalen's style should be defined as indie folk. SubPop states that "with Diaper Island, VanGaalen distills his approach, producing his most sonically cohesive album to date, and the closest thing he has done to a rock album."

You will pull strange gifts from the heart of the trees, oh
Unforgotten love not forgotten peace, oh no
Will you drag me into the heart of the boiling sea?
You can soothe my mind with your silence,
Oh Sara, I hear you calling me

Sara, wake me up when you're home
Ah, Sara, wake me up when you're home
Sara, wake me up when you're home
Ah, Sara, wake me up when you're home

You're a golden beam breaking into the ocean deep
On a single breathe to be lead to escape, no
Now you cast your light and exposing the same colors, oh
You consume my mind into silence,
Oh, Sara, I hear you calling me

Sara, wake me up when you're home
Ah, Sara, wake me up when you're home
Sara, wake me up when you're home
Ah, Sara, wake me up when you're home

Thursday, June 2, 2011

XTC were a New Wave/pop band from Swindon, England, active between 1977 and 2005.¹ According to the website h2g2.com, "XTC remain a critically-acclaimed band. They were formed in the post-punk New Wave of the late 1970s, but, once on the verge of greatness, their fall from grace was as shocking as it was sudden." The rest of the history is in the website...

The album with the whistling song was released in 1980 by Virgin Records. It's the fourth studio album by the band and it's called Black Sea.

There's on MySpace an interview with Colin Moulding (bass & vocal) in which he talks about this song and the whistling in it, and I will put it here completely:

TB: Let's talk about "Generals and Majors," which was a single from Black Sea. Did you feel the weight of the success of "Nigel" on your shoulders as you were writing "General and Majors," or were things simply moving so fast that you didn't have to think about it? CM: Things were probably moving a bit too fast to think about it. I started thinking about it later on, and then the failure started! [laughs] But I was still on the crest of the wave, I think, with this -- out on tour all the time, and didn't have time to think. Started to imagine grander things. Of course, which was exactly what I should have been doing -- being imaginative and grabbing stuff, and not worrying about it too much.

[chuckles] I really couldn't believe me luck when they said, " 'Generals and Majors,' hey, that sounds great!" I thought it was just okay. I thought what really got the song going was Andy's guitar riff, more than anything. That's the power in the song, I suppose. Some of the parts are rather nursery-rhyme-y, I think...

TB: But, because of that, very memorable to a listener.

CM: I suppose so. I think I just liked the power of it, and Andy's chiming guitar. You hear the song on telly sometimes -- they'll play it over the football matches and stuff. I guess it's because of that glorious, chiming stomp.

TB: Do you remember what prompted you to write the song?

CM: I remember I was thinking of the phrase "Oh, What a Lovely War." You know, the absurd idea of a "good war." I don't know if you remember, but there was a film in England called "The League of Gentlemen," about robbing a bank. The gist of it was, these guys all were in the army, and had had [Sandhurst-type accent] "a bloody good war." Now they were redundant -- they were out of the army, in pretty duff jobs -- not really succeeding in Civvy Street as they had in the war. They were good at what they did, you know. So, they all plot to rob a bank, basically, and get caught in the end, obviously -- they can't succeed, just think of the message it'd send to society! -- but I remember one of the guys saying, "Yeah, I had a bloody good war."

I was putting these phrases together in my head, and thinking of generals and officers having a "good" war, and I think that's where it came from. Not true for the cannon fodder, of course.

TB: I was just going to say -- it's usually a lot easier for a general or major to have a "good war"!

CM: Yeah, exactly. So that was where it came from -- the pomposity of a phrase like that. They'll never come down until they're victorious again, you know? They're on a high, because they're having a "good war."

TB: Would this have been a matter of you sitting down with a guitar and, as you were saying before, just working music and lyrics out together?

CM: I had that lyric thing, and I just started strumming an F7 chord -- I'd started messing about with "Dr. Robert," the Beatles song, which is pretty full of seventh chords. I was also thinking of "Paperback Writer," which is really just one chord, and I'd thought, "I'd like to write a song that's more or less one chord." So, I'm strumming in F, and had this phrase "generals and majors" in my head, along with this marching-type rhythm -- an unlikely combination, really, but I didn't question things as I later did. If they go, then go with it. I didn't worry to much about "why." It just is, you know? I didn't realize then that this is just what I should be doing!

TB: When you're young like that, too, you don't feel that you have to think. It's enough to do, you know? I think that's perhaps a burden of age -- as you get more experienced, you start thinking more about motives.

CM: I think you think that it should take longer! "It should take longer than two minutes to write a song! It can't be worth anything if it only takes that long." But I know now that this way of thinking is totally wrong. If it takes that amount of time, it's probably worth more!

TB: Yeah, a little bit purer.

CM: Exactly. Once you start thinking about changing it, then it's worth nothing. I didn't say "why" then -- I was just happy to go with things. Then I did start asking why, a few years later -- and now I think I've come out the other side. I can see now that I was overdoing it, exactly what I shouldn't be doing.

TB: So, you brought the song up with the band, I presume, and it was a rehearsal/arranging-type of situation?

CM: Yeah, kind of just strumming me acoustic, and seeing what they thought. Pretty much had all the chords. But it did lack something. We have a tape of us rehearsing it in a Swindon rehearsal hall [released on Coat of Many Cupboards], and it's got me playing bass, and I think the guys are just strumming on the F chord. It didn't sound too interesting -- it needed something that was going to go through those chords. I think Dave got on playing with the chords, but there was some noodling to be had, you know? [laughs] Somebody had to come up with something, and Andy came up with that great chiming guitar part that goes through everything. I think Dave's got a little something going as well, in a kind of lower register, something syncopated.

TB: And then Terry's got his "pea soup" drumming, of course...

CM: Yeah, well, I think at the time everyone was just nutty on Disco. I still like Disco, though I haven't listened to any records in a long time. I think Blondie's "Heart of Glass" had influenced some people.

TB: I think the main reason Disco was successful was that it had this very primal beat, easy to dance to -- but then Terry takes it to the next level and makes it vicious!

CM: Yeah! It's vicious Disco! [laughs] I don't think he could play anything that had a very light touch -- every time he touched the snare it exploded, you know? It's the John Bonham school of drumming, I think. That was his style, you know. It was great live, actually -- it really came over live, because of the power. But when it came time to do things with a lighter touch, it was different -- he didn't have as much of a feel for that.

But Black Sea was his album, drumming-wise. I think he really felt comfortable with those songs.

TB: And the two of you, especially on this song, lock together so tightly.

CM: It was almost first take, I think. I don't remember doing it too many times -- it was just a matter of, "Well, let's get in there and do it." It really gelled right away, and we said, "That's a bloody great backing track -- we can really build on this now." I think it was me, Dave and Terry that put the backing track down, and Andy put his part ..wards, as an overdub. I think the chiming guitar needed a special sound -- kind of a chorus-y, flange-y kind of sound, and it was easier to do that separately as an overdub after we'd got the backing track down.

Again, I realize now that the first takes are usually the best ones.

TB: Yeah, because there's a spontaneity and a feeling...

CM: I always say that if you track with me, and we're having a run-through while the engineer is getting his sound -- [laughs] that's always the one that you've got to keep!

TB: [laughing] If you can, yeah! If the engineer doesn't mess up!

CM: Exactly! I don't like doing those run-throughs, because you might get something you want to keep, and they might fuck it up. I'd rather it be a case of, "Let's just play a little piece, and let him get a sound. That way, we can save ourselves for that first couple of takes, and don't throw them away."

TB: Were [producer] Steve Lillywhite and [engineer] Hugh Padgham amenable to that? Because I remember Andy telling me, with Mutt Lange, you guys played "This Is Pop" something like 30 or 40 times.

CM: Mutt Lange was the other school, yeah. If you didn't get it first time, he'd go [imitates Lang], "We'll play it until you do get it." But it's kind of like Burt Bacharach, when he came to London to do "Alfie" with Cilla Black at Abbey Road. He and George Martin were trying to decide which take to use, and I think they got it -- or George Martin thought they had it -- on the second take, but Burt Bacharach said, "No, no, she can do it better than that." And I think it was take 23 that they decided on!

[chuckles] Of course, I think you can do it so many times, that you come round the other side. You get really, really rotten for so many times, but then you come out the other side and it becomes spontaneous again.

TB: Is there anything else in particular you remember about the recording of this? I know, for example, during the chorus, there's that great stomping effect -- I was wondering how you guys got that.

CM: We were very enamored with the New York Dolls' "Jet Boy." And on that, they used stack heels on a parquet floor -- that kind of school of thuggery, you know. [chuckles] So we stomped and yelled in the Stone Room at the Townhouse, and got that kind of "Oi, oi, oi, oi!" sound. The whistle was also quite important, I think. None of us could whistle in the key of the song, and make it sound good.

TB: Yeah, and it's hard to whistle loud enough to really cut through a Rock and Roll song.

CM: Indeed, yeah. We had problems with the humming part of the song as well. We had to get somebody from the kitchen, a guy called Step, I think. The cook from the kitchen, and my, could he hum! [laughs] That part was all him.

I think the whistling is partly the Korg synthesizer. I think it's mixed in with somebody whistling.

TB: And when you did the song live, it was just Dave playing keyboard, right? Did anyone even attempt to whistle the part live?

CM: I don't think we could whistle loud enough to cut through the row, you know? So, yeah, that part was Dave.

TB: And I think even the humming part was keyboard when you did that live, correct?

CM: That was the Korg, yeah.

TB: Who came up with the ideas to add whistling or humming to the song?

CM: I suggested the whistling.

TB: Was that something that happened in the studio, or did you know from the beginning that you'd want something like that in there?

CM: I think I knew I wanted to add that melody line, maybe as a vocal part, but then I thought, "Wouldn't that be good if it could be whistled?" I knew that I couldn't whistle it, and it was kind of a search for someone who could whistle it in that key. So we used a bit of trickery, because it was generally acknowledged that it would be a good idea to get the whistle to happen, so I think everybody tried, to see who had the best whistle, but none of us could really cut the mustard. Probably Andy did better than most -- he can whistle quite well. But the key was killing everybody, so I think we did it partly on a keyboard, and then mixed in Andy's whistling.

TB: How much arranging work was done in the studio as opposed to in rehearsal? I'm also wondering how much input the producer had, because, depending on the producer, that is the type of thing that they can help a band with. But I know you guys have had varying levels of that over the years...

CM: Lillywhite was pretty good. I don't think he came up with too many ideas, but he knew when we had a rotten one. [laughs] Or, it was kind of, "That's good, Colin, but you need to refine it more," or "You need to do this." He didn't come up with many ideas, but he recognized when a good idea came out and needed to be refined.

He's a kind of vibe-y guy -- he would help the record, do what was important for the spirit of the record. And from that perspective, he did a pretty good job. I don't think he's a musician, though his brother is a drummer. He was a good producer in his own way -- his attributes were right on for what we needed, I think. Of course, by that time, I don't think he was doing a lot of engineering -- he had Hugh Padgham in the engineering chair, and Hugh did rather well for himself! [laughs] I think we were surprised when we couldn't get him later for less than $10,000 a track! [laughs] "Oh, remember us?" A good team, though.

TB: [laughs] Yeah, that was for Nonsuch, wasn't it?

CM: We were going to use the pair of them on Nonsuch -- we were going to get the old team together. But Lillywhite was having a few marital problems at the time with Kirsty MacColl. Kirsty wanted him to come on holiday with her, and I think he'd already arranged to work with us. In the end, he had to blow us out.

TB: And then Hugh was so expensive, that you ended up with Gus Dudgeon instead, I guess?

CM: [laughs] Cut-price Gus! Yeah, Gus was one of these characters where we'd seen his name on a lot of famous records, and so we thought he might have the right credentials for us, you know? He probably liked the old school, as it were, more than we did.

TB: Back to "General and Majors" -- as you were saying, this was a favorite song of yours to do live... CM: It seemed to go down a storm live. It's good to play, and everyone enjoyed doing their parts.

TB: Did you end sets with this?

CM: Yes. For a good while. We used to chop and change -- I even remember it in the beginning of a set. I'm not sure when, exactly. But certainly, for a good part of our live career, it was at the end.

TB: You paired it up with "Living Through Another Cuba," right?

CM: Yes, we started with "Cuba" and then ended with "Generals and Majors." Then we thought "Nigel" could be the encore one.

TB: I know there's a video to this -- Richard Branson was in it, wasn't he?

CM: I felt a real bit of a shit at the time, because I think they'd agreed that we were going to do "Towers of London" as the single. We might have even done a video for it, thinking that it was going to be the first single. In fact, I'm almost sure that was the way it was -- we'd done the video for "Towers of London," then there was a change of heart. They decided they wanted "Generals and Majors" as the first single, and that "Towers of London" would be the second single, even though we'd already made the video for it, and we couldn't afford to do one for "Generals and Majors"!

So, we didn't have a video, "Generals and Majors" was coming out, we were going to Australia, so how the fuck were we going to promote it? We needed a video, so we could get on "Top of the Pops" and stuff. It just wasn't very well thought-out, you know. Maybe they should have carried on and released "Towers of London" -- at least we had a fairly decent video we could give to the BBC while we were in Australia, but those were the kind of managerial bollocks we had to deal with at the time -- that we were going to Australia on the eve of releasing a single off the record! Not very good timing.

So, just before we were going to head off on some sort of major tour, they had what's known as the annual party at the Manor, which is Richard Branson's recording studio in the country. Huge kind of manor house, where we've done several records. On that particular day, they were doing a documentary about the Manor, and the party that was taking place. So, there we were, doing a fake recording of "Towers of London" at the Manor, and being filmed as part of the documentary. After they'd done that, we thought, "Well, hang on a minute, we've got 'Generals and Majors' coming out -- we've got a film crew here -- I've got an idea! Let's get the film crew to make a cut-price video!" [laughs] So that's what happened.

So, when you see the bouncy castle at the end of the video -- that's because it was there for the party, and we just cleared off the kids using it, and said "We're shooting a video here -- go play on the swings."[laughs] We were kind of desperate, I think.

TB: [laughing] Necessity is the mother of invention, right?

CM: Absolutely! Necessity knows no bounds. So we just made a cut-price video, since we were desperate and going out of the country the next day. We had nothing to promote the record, and were going to be away for weeks, and knew it was going to die unless we did something.

Quite bizarre, really. I think one or two of those geezers who were dressed as generals were part of the film crew! Along with [Virgin Records'] Simon Draper and, of course, Richard Branson. But ludicrous, really. A lot of the band acting, and when you get the band acting, it's not good, is it! [laughs]

TB: Well, there is a certain "Hard Day's Night" vibe to the video -- you know, the silly, more surreal bits.

CM: Yeah, I hope it comes over that way. It's always difficult to know how it's coming over. Hoping it's seen as a bit of fun -- [laughs] how could they see it as anything else? But the sentiment of the song -- of having a "lovely war" -- is a bit more serious, of course.

Generals and Majors ah ahthey're never too farfrom battlefields so gloriousout in a world of their ownThey'll never come downtill once again victorious

Generals and Majors alwaysseem so unhappy 'less they got a war

Generals and Majors ah ahlike never before are tired of being actionless.

CallingGenerals and Majors everywhereCallingyour World War III is drawing near

Generals and Majors ah ahThey're never too faraway from men who made the gradeout in a world of their ownThey'll never come downuntil the battle's lost or made

Generals and Majors ah ahlike never before, are tired of being in the shade.Download

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Today is a very special day to me. I was gonna post this song in December — the day when Lennon was shot — but it fits perfectly today.

Changing the subject, I do here one thing I hate to see when I do a research. I copy and paste. It's bloody irritating to see people blatantly blogging with someone's words (and the worse!) without making reference. At least I do make references.

But people they shall understand that my purpose is to create a complete source to answer their questions about songs which have whistling. This is my excuse to copy and paste. And it is a fair excuse. ^^

So, with you the great website The Beatles Bible from where I took every single word from now to the end of the post:

An account of John Lennon's darkest days during his Lost Weekend, Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out) was the penultimate song on his 1974 album Walls And Bridges.

The song was the only one from the album to have been written during Lennon's initial stay in Los Angeles. He recorded a home demo in October 1973 on an acoustic guitar. At this stage the lyrics were largely complete, but Lennon was still working on the chord structure.

The song was clearly inspired by the 1923 blues standard Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out, written by Jimmy Cox about the Prohibition era. That song recounted the tale of a former millionaire who had fallen on hard times, and reflected on the transient nature of friendships and material wealth.

"Well, that says the whole story. I always imagined Sinatra singing that one, I dunno why. He could do a perfect job with it. Ya listenin', Frank? You need a song that isn't a piece of nothing. Here's one for you. The horn arrangement - everything's made for you. But don't ask me to produce it!" — John Lennon, 1980. All We Are Saying, David Sheff

Lennon's travails in 1974 were mostly self-inflicted, as the excesses of his Lost Weekend and the strains of his separation from Yoko Ono took their toll. He had moved to Los Angeles with his girlfriend May Pang, and for a time lived with the hard-living Keith Moon, Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr.

Realising the effects his lifestyle was having on his health, Lennon and Pang moved back to New York. Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out) was one of the songs recorded during the pre-production rehearsals for Walls And Bridges in July 1973; an edited version of the recording was released posthumously in 1986 on the Menlove Ave collection.

The lyrics of Nobody Loves You were among Lennon's most soul-baring, demonstrating his feelings of rejection, despair and loneliness. By 1974 he had fallen out of favour with record-buyers, was separated from his wife, and his attempted solace in alcohol had proved little more than illusory.

I've been across to the other sideI've shown you everything, I got nothing to hideBut stull you ask me do I love you, what it is, what it isAll I can tell you is it's all showbizAll I can tell you is it's all showbiz

Walls And Bridges was recorded in New York's Record Plant East in July and August 1974. Along with Scared, Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out) was the bleakest of his new compositions, although both showed Lennon's self-awareness and his determination to lift himself from the gutter.

The 1998 box set John Lennon Anthology contained an alternative studio outtake. It could have been a contender for Walls And Bridges, but for a slightly out of tune acoustic guitar. It also lacks the brass and string overdubs which sweetened the final take.

A solo rendition performed on acoustic guitar was also included as a bonus track on the 2005 reissue of Walls And Bridges. This was announced as take nine during the studio sessions.

Nobody loves you when you're down and out
Nobody sees you when you're on cloud nine
Everybody's hustlin' for a buck and a dime
I'll scratch your back and you scratch mine

I've been across to the other side
I've shown you everything, I got nothing to hide
And still you ask me do I love you, what it is, what it is
All I can tell you is it's all show biz
All I can tell you is it's all show biz

Nobody loves you when you're down and out
Nobody knows you when you're on cloud nine
Everybody's hustlin' for a buck and a dime
I'll scratch your back and you knife mine

I've been across the water now so many times
I've seen the one eyed witchdoctor leading the blind
And still you ask me do I love you, what you say, what you say
Everytime I put my finger on it, it slips away
Everytime I put my finger on it, it slips away

Well I get up in the morning and I'm looking in the mirror to see, ooo wee!
Then I'm lying in the darkness and I know I can't get to sleep, ooo wee!

Nobody loves you when you're old and grey
Nobody needs you when you're upside down
Everybody's hollerin' 'bout their own birthday
Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground